Attorney: Donald Trump lied on stand
CHICAGO (AP) — The attorney for an 87-year-old woman who accuses Donald Trump of cheating her in a skyscraper condo deal told Chicago jurors on Wednesday that he was personally repulsed by the “Apprentice” star whom he said lied on the witness stand.
The comments came during a sarcasm-filled closing argument at a trial that pits Jacqueline Goldberg against the billionaire real estate mogul-turned TV showman.
His voice rising, attorney Shelly Kulwin portrayed the case as a battle between a powerful businessman and a woman who learned her values growing up during the Depression.
Trump, of New York, wasn’t in court for the closings. But Kulwin projected a photograph of the beaming developer on a large courtroom screen.
“The thought of my grandma being in the same room with that guy. Yuck!” said Kulwin. The judge told jurors to disregard the comment.
Later, he said Trump was motivated to cheat his client by a love for money.
“It’s like his family, those dollars,” Kulwin said.
Addressing jurors later Wednesday, defense attorney Stephen Novack accused Kulwin of resorting to personal attacks on Trump out of desperation and a lack of evidence.
Goldberg alleges Trump persuaded her to buy two condos at around $1 million apiece in Chicago’s glitzy Trump International Hotel & Tower by promising she would share in building profits. But, Goldberg says, Trump reneged after she committed to the investment.
“It’s called a bait and switch,” Kulwin told jurors. “Here’s the bait. Here’s the switch.”
But Trump’s attorney described Goldberg as a detail-oriented investor who knew the contract that she signed stipulated Trump could cancel the profit-sharing offer as he saw fit.
“She knows the drill,” he said. “Nobody put a gun to her head (to sign).”
Since the contract gave Trump rights to change the profit-sharing offer, Novack said the onus was on Goldberg’s attorneys to prove Trump secretly plotted to defraud her before she even signed up to buy.
“What do they call it? A bait and switch,” he said. “Switch is not enough. … There is no evidence whatsoever of a secret plan.”
In two days of sometimes combative testimony last week, Trump denied cheating Goldberg. And he told reporters outside court that he was the victim, not her. He declared, “She’s trying to rip me off.”
On Wednesday, though, Kulwin said Trump took the stand “to lie, evade and spout infomercials.” He also mocked Trump for telling jurors he never took notes of business meetings and so couldn’t say for sure when certain decisions were made and by whom.
“People who don’t want to be found out don’t write things down. They’re not stupid,” he said. “And Donald Trump may be a lot of things, but he’s not stupid.”
Kulwin told jurors Goldberg was seeking a total of $6 million in damages.
“Send a message not just to Mr. Trump — but to tell others like him,” he said pounding his hand on a podium. “You can say to them, ‘These people who do these things have crossed the line.’”
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